End the Neglect

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Posts Tagged ‘Carter Center’

Do As I Say (Not As I Do)

September 10th, 2010

By: Linn Bergander

Destination: Shores of Lake Malawi

Travel doctor recommendations: (1) filter, boil or treat all tap water when drinking, cooking, washing, etc. (2) do not use water from the lake (3) carry antibiotics for traveler’s diarrhea (4) take Malaria prophylaxis.

If you looked in my backpack this summer you would find scrolls of paintings, a stack of reading books, playing cards, climbing shoes, and a collection of brilliantly colored clothe from the market. But amongst the books and clothe, there was not a single iodine tablet, antibiotic or prophylaxis (not to mention a lack of sunscreen and antibacterial wash).

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Posted in Africa, Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, poverty, Public Health, Water and Sanitation

Tags: Carter Center cielo productions malaria

Reading List 3/18/10

March 18th, 2010

Today we’re reading a couple of pieces about the ongoing fight against Guinea worm, including a rather encouraging piece out of Mali, and a profile of the director of USAID.

MALI: Hoping to eradicate guinea worm in two years, IRIN Africa

Parasite lost: Exterminating Africa’s horror worms, Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah outlines priorities, role for business, Kristi Heim, Seattle Times

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Posted in Africa, Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Obama Administration, policy, Public Health, reading list, U.S Government, Uncategorized

Tags: Africa Carter Center deworming education GHI Global Health Global Health Initiative guinea worm mali media news NTDs Obama policy USAID

River Blindness Transmission Cycle Broken in Ecuador

March 4th, 2010

Just this week the Ministry of Health and several other partners in the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA) have declared onchocerciasis transmission has been halted in Ecuador. As per World Health Organization policy, Ecuador must now monitor and verify elimination for the next three years. In 2008, the Pan American Health Organization restated its dedication to eliminating river blindness in the Americas by 2012 and this announcement is an important step towards achieving that goal.

Onchocerciasis is transmitted by the bite of the black fly and a small, bite-transmitted worm parasite. This parasite, Onchocerca volvulus, causes skin irritation and can cause loss of sight. The illness is known as river blindness because the black flies breed in fast-moving bodies of water near affected communities. In order to break the disease transmission cycle, implementing organizations utilize the common practice of mass drug administration (MDA). In MDA programs, safe and affordable (often donated) drugs are distributed to entire communities several times a year. For onchocerciasis treatments, the Merck produced drug Mecitzan (ivermectan) is used at no cost. In the last twenty years over eight million doses have been distributed across the region in endemic communities.

OEPA is a regional collaboration that was started in 1993 by The Carter Center to treat the more than 500,000 people at risk for this disease across Latin America. The partnership includes the Pan American Health Organization (World Health Organization), the pharmaceutical company Merck, the Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF), Lions Clubs International Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The OEPA program targets the six Latin American countries (Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela) where onchocerciasis is still a public health threat. Originally there were seven countries on this list, but Colombia achieved transmission interruption in 2008. In light of this week’s announcement, this list will be shortened to only five countries.

With a growing interest in the potential for elimination of onchocerciasis from Africa, the success of the programs in the Americas provides an experience base that can guide the next phase of the onchocerciasis program in Africa.

Rapid Reactions from the ASTMH Course on NTDs

November 18th, 2009

As Policy Associate for the Global Network, my brain is filled on a day-to-day basis with jargon like ‘R.O.I.’ and ‘vertical vs. horizontal’ and ‘congressional budget justifications’. So to some extent, my attendance at today’s ASTMH clinical pre-course on NTDs felt like listening to experts speaking in another language, or at least in a distant dialect. ‘Micro-array analysis’ and ‘allelic distortion’ and ‘microfilaremia’ flew throughout the day, reminding me of the tremendous gaps between the technical and advocacy worlds of global health, both in the words we use and in the techniques through which we hope to achieve progress.

But relying back on my global health education, I was still able to take much away from the course, and I particularly enjoyed a number of anecdotes shared throughout the day:

Dr. Alan Fenwick of the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative joked about Prince William of the UK acquiring schistosomiasis–a “rare tropical disease” to the British tabloids, but one that impacts over 200 million people globally.
Dr. David Freedman of UAB told the story of a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone who was infected with onchocerciasis for over a year upon return to the US before she received proper diagnosis and treatment–all the while suffering from itching, rash, and even an internal, muscular nodule.
Dr. Paul Emerson from the Carter Center spoke movingly about trachoma. He showed a picture of a young woman with early stages of infection; she was not yet blind but was suffering incredible pain as her eyelashes constantly scratched her cornea. As a result, she could not work, farm, cook over an open fire, or even stand to be in the bright sunlight for long periods of time, leaving her physically, mentally, and socially depressed. As he reminded us, blindness is the most overt consequence of trachoma, but it is not the “full story.”

Leaving the course, I was most impressed by those who were able to take vast clinical knowledge and make it relevant even to the most wonky policy audience members. Because at the end of the day, even the most meaningful research on NTDs will not motivate corporations and governments to act unless we as advocates can compel them to do so.